Diana - she was good. I'd never buy her cd, but as Randy saus, she is aiiilllright. How do you spell it he way he says it?

George - I started off really liking him. But each week it fades a little more. His performance was ok. My mother keeps telling me that George is a bit "slow". And I think I'm starting to see what she means. Just his mannerisms suggest so. And although Latoya had problems tonight getting the words out straight when she was talking, its George talking that drives me insane. For example, on Mondays show Ryan had an "intimate" chat with the top five. Here is a bit of Ryan and George's conversation (I'm paraphrasing a bit)

Ryan: "So George, you become good friends with a lot of the other contestants."
George: "Yup, good friends, yup, good friends"
Ryan: "And you have bonded with them."
George: "Yup, bonded, yup, bonded."
Ryan: "Especially Jennifer Hudson."
George: "Yup, Jennifer Hudson, yup."
IT DROVE ME INSANE!

Jasmine - I think the first song was better than the second. I think she has a nice voice when shes not pushing to be a big powerful singer. I could hear the strain in her voice at the end of the second song. She reminds me of Audery from Canadian Idol...they are not meant to be big powerful singers.

Latoya - technicaly the best voice in the competition, but its almost as if she is too good.

Fantasia - this girl drove me crazy at the beginning. Something about her personality rubbed me the wrong way. But now I love her. I think she has revealed more of her personality than every other contestant and I think she has done it honestly. There are very few fake smiles in there...unlike others, cough, Diana, cough.

Kara, I completely agree with you about the Jasmine/Audrey comparison. I think the difference in them is that Audrey can sing a whole song without missing a note whereas Jasmine can do quite well and then just lose complete control of her voice. I also think that Audrey has a lot more maturity in her voice.

Totally agree.......what the heck is up with Paula....her pain meds must be getting to her and she was way over medicated, teary-eyed, a bit of an embarassment.....oh well, that's show biz....

At this point, I am dreading tomorrow night, can't stand seeing any of them go.....

I didn't like Fantasia at first, loved LaToya, but now I love them both and would buy their CD's........I can see both ladies on Broadway.......I thought tonight was great, loved the songs and the arrangements, but I love "Big Band" and would have probably liked it no matter how they sang. I thought all five did very well and props go to George, Jasmine, and Dianna for hanging in this long, but I do believe it will be down to Fantasia and LaToya, with LaToya taking home top prize........bottom two tomorrow.........George and Dianna with George going home....(to wait for the TOUR!!!!!)....42

Wow - the first time I was home and watching live for weeks! Small moment to curse the terrible reception that the Fox station gets in my building. I'm glad they did that long band intro, it took the whole time for me to get the picture and sound to come in!

Diana: Yet another extraordinarily poor costume choice for Diana. "Someone to Watch Over Me" was ok - I was reconsidering my dismissal of Diana. "Come On Get Happy" was a return to Diana's usual high school prom performance, however. I think she should have reversed the order of songs. Her between-song patter about the troops seemed incredibly contrived as well.

George: I was blown away by how well George's voice was suited to "Cheek to Cheek". He seems to have inherited some of Jennifer Hudson's facial tics - if I closed my eyes, this song was amazing; watching him work so hard on the range was a little distracting. Also, his voice sounded great during the song, but he was clearly out of breath during his between-song schtick. I expected the Louis Armstrong song to be the better fit for George, but once again, I think he should have reversed his song order. "What a Wonderful World" is a great, great song, and it was a little challenging for George. I felt like he was rushing the arrangement at first, and he was singing 'too pretty' for the song - for once his rasp would have sounded at home, but I could hear him smiling, which helps to 'pick up' the note. Halfway through, George seemed to relax and the rest of the performance was good - and I liked the falsetto!

LaToya: Holy XXXX! Every hair onmy body was standing on end during the entire rendition of "Too Close for Comfort". The usual great vocals, this time there was personality to match. Love the hair, and LaToya looked like she was having a blast AND managed to convey a lot of emotion. Second song, from 'Funny Girl', was almost as good, but not quite. I'm sensing a theme about song order for these singers, but it wasn't nearly as damaging for LaToya as it was for the first 2. I didn't even mind LaToya stumbling over Natalie Cole's name in the patter - it continued to give her a vulnerability that's been missing. Ya think she could hold that last note from Funny Girl a little longer? (ps her dress looked like an ice dance costume - in a good way!)

Jasmine: First mistake - dressing like she was singing at a high school talent show. I hated Diana's dress, but at least it fit the theme. Jasmine ended up singing to match her outfit. Her power pop voice did not sit well with big band, especially the first song, "The Way You Look Tonight". Jasmine did have the luck of putting her better performance second (although based on previous posts, I guess I'm alone in that assessment), but it still wasn't all that. I thought "Almost Like Being in Love" was a stronger performance overall, but her voice did start to give out toward the end.

Fantasia: Girl gets some points for some gutsy choices. I happen to like Queen a lot, and I loved her rendition of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". Fun, and it worked in the Big Band theme. She even restrained herself to just one "yea" at the end !! I could've lived without her dedications though - thought they were both a little weird. The Barbara Streisand song started off really well - she almost blew me away with this performance - but something happened and it fell a bit flat for me. It started feeling like a Big Emotional PERFORMANCE, rather than a big emotional performance, if that makes sense - it was too calculated. Plus, the playback showed what I had missed the first time - many, MANY "yeah yeah yeah"s at the end. Automatic .3 deduction! Once again I thought the first song was stronger, but it's clear that the choice of order was deliberate, in order to wow everyone. It just didn't work on me. Girl's a star, though, through and through.

Based on the combination of the 2 performances, as well as how good I thought their 'better' performance was, here are my rankings:

1. LaToya - both songs were great, "Too Close For Comfort" should become a signature song for her.2. Fantasia
3. George - based on performance of both songs, I had George and Fantasia tied, but Fantasia just has performance quality that gives her a substantial edge.4. Diana - one song was mature and fit her voice well, the other highlighted Diana's weaknesses as a singer.5. Jasmine - Jasmine sang well tonight, but I think she has a lack of versatility in her voice - she sings well in one style, which doesn't translate well to other genres. Out of her depth now in the competition.

I'm guessing George and Jasmine will be in the bottom 2, and I really really hope Jasmine is the one to go.